New Comedy Angelos from TOP Theater Co.

TOP Theater Co. presents Angelos, a new comedy written by Tony Perzow. Angelos tells the story of a Hasidic Jew who robs a barbershop that just happens to be filled with mobsters straight out of a Damon Runyon story. That's when the fun really begins. Angelos is preceded by the short play Dating Stories, a series of comic vignettes.

I'm visiting from San Francisco, and am thrilled to find such quality performances in small unexpected places! These plays had me laughing hysterically. The action was fast, the jokes verbally agile and the characters, people you enjoy hanging...continued

Quotes & Highlights

__ __

Description

Written by Tony Perzow. Directed by R.S. Bailey. Produced by TOP Theater.

The new comedy “Angelos” is set in a neighborhood barber shop named after its Greek owner. The Angelos shop is situated in a bustling, ethnically diverse city. Its crew and regular patrons evoke a more diverse version of Damon Runyon. There’s Angelos the barber, Brocha the Israeli manicurist, Mirror the elderly African American shoe-shine concessionaire, Kelly the Scalp (he sells tickets), Jimmy the Book, Barry the businessman, and Uncle Moe the Shylock. He’s a Connected man, if you get the drift.

One fine day, into the shop walks David, a young Chassidic man aged 21, who is working as a delivery boy for the neighboring Jewish deli. Although ostensibly there to deliver groceries, he’s actually packing heat and intends to rob the joint and its patrons. He wants to score a lot of money very fast, so he can escape his restrictive life style and pursue Maria, the Gentile object of his affections.

Rather than turn him in to pursuing police, the people of Angelos, thinking David is more cute than dangerous, conspire to help him woo the girl of his dreams.

“Angelos” is not a long play, and it’s preceded by a curtain raiser, “Dating Stories.” Three very different couples are on simultaneous first dates, which have significantly different conclusions. The subject itself is a ripe target for big laughs.

Perzow graduated from the Academy program at Los Angeles City College. Prior to this, he had traveled the world and pursued several successful ventures as a businessman and entrepreneur. He is a native of Montreal, Canada.

R.S. Bailey won an L.A. Weekly Award for directing “Shuffle, Shuffle Step: Three Plays by Samuel Beckett” and a Drama-Logue Award for “A Weekend With Samuel Beckett.” His other directing credits include “A Taste for the Forbidden,” “Double Murder and Suicide,” “The Information Office,” “Courtesy Doesn’t Pay,” “The Cage,” “Orgasmo Adulto Escapes From the Zoo,” and more. His own plays include “Deus Ex Machina,” “Window Pieces” and “The Bug” (co-wrote). He is currently Artistic Director of Theatre Z.